Nick takes issue with my suggestion that the Second Amendment on its face bars laws restricting people to one gun, such as that currently proposed by Gov. Quinn in Illinois. My (first) argument is not an originalist or purposivist one, but rather a purely textual one. The primary meaning of “arms” is plural. Nick argues […]
Archive | Self-Defense
Ice-T, Volokh, and Kopel: Together at last in a feature film
By David Kopel on June 23, 2013 3:12 pm in Constitutional History, Constitutional Law, Guns, History, McDonald v. City of Chicago, Popular Culture, Registration, Self-Defense, Terrorism
The film is Assaulted: Civil Rights under Fire. It opened Friday in a limited theatrical release. Assaulted tells the modern and historic story of the Second Amendment, with a particular focus on civil rights. The events include Reconstruction, the Deacons for Defense, the Battle of Athens, the post-Katrina gun confiscations, and much more. The narrator is Ice-T. […]
Knives and the Second Amendment
By David Kopel on March 25, 2013 12:43 pm in Constitutional Law, Criminal Law, Defense of Property, Non-Firearms Arms, Self-Defense
That’s the title of my forthcoming article in the University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform. My co-authors are Clayton Cramer and Joe Olson. The abstract: This Article is the first scholarly analysis of knives and the Second Amendment. Knives are clearly among the “arms” which are protected by the Second Amendment. Under the Supreme […]
The Ruby Ridge murders, 20 years later
By David Kopel on August 22, 2012 11:48 pm in Criminal Law, Executive Branch, Growth of Government, Guns, Self-Defense, Targeted Killing, War on Drugs
The Prologue to my book No More Wacos: What’s Wrong with Federal Law Enforcement and How to Fix it, includes a section on the Ruby Ridge case. Much more on Waco and Ruby Ridge is available on the Waco page on my website.
Michigan Supreme Court Reaffirms Right to Physically (But Nonlethally) Resist Illegal Police Conduct
The case is People v. Moreno (Mich. Apr. 23, 2012) (5 to 2). A 2004 Michigan Court of Appeals decision had held the contrary, but the Michigan Supreme Court overruled that precedent. Under the old common law rule, people were allowed to use nondeadly force to resist an illegal arrest or search. But, to quote […]
The “Duty to Retreat,” the Duty (or Not) to Comply With Demands, Necessity, and Liberty
The so-called “duty to retreat” has been in the news recently, and has long been of interest to people interested in self-defense law. Some have argued that the duty to retreat is a special case of the general requirement that lethal force may only be used when necessary to prevent death, serious bodily injury, rape, […]
“I’m Going to Stab You Niggers”: A Duty to Retreat Case
I blogged a while ago about how the presence of a “duty to retreat” probably (though not certainly) wouldn’t have affected the outcome of any possible prosecution of George Zimmerman for killing Trayvon Martin. The issue in that case would likely be whether Zimmerman reasonably feared death or serious bodily injury or some similarly serious […]
Florida’s Self-Defense Laws
By David Kopel on March 27, 2012 11:59 pm in Crime Victims Rights, Criminal Law, Criminal Procedure, Guns, Self-Defense
Media coverage of Florida’s self-defense laws in recent weeks has often been very inaccurate. While some persons, particularly from the gun prohibition lobbies, have claimed that the Martin/Zimmerman case shows the danger of Florida’s “Stand your ground” law, that law is legally irrelevant to case. So let’s take a look at what the Florida laws […]
Can the Police Arrest Someone for Homicide, When It’s Clear He Killed But Likely in Self-Defense?
To arrest someone for a crime, the police need probable cause to believe that he committed the crime. But what if it’s clear that the person committed the act (e.g., intentionally killed someone), but it seems likely that he has a good affirmative defense (e.g., self-defense)? My view is that probable cause should be probable […]
Lethal Self-Defense, the Quantum of Proof, the “Duty to Retreat,” and the Aggressor Exception
The tragic death of Trayvon Martin has led to more discussion of self-defense and the “duty to retreat.” I wanted to offer a few thoughts about the broad issues. 1. The costs of the legal acceptance of lethal self-defense: To begin with, I think both self-defense enthusiasts and self-defense skeptics have to acknowledge that the […]
Interesting Self-Defense Case
The case is People v. Richardson, decided by the Michigan Supreme Court Friday. The big dispute is not about the law, but about whether the instructions were clear enough; but many cases indeed turn on that very question. If you’re interested in self-defense cases as they are actually litigated — especially in situations where the […]
40 Out of 50 Indiana State Senators Sign Amicus Brief Supporting Right to Use Force to Resist Unlawful Police Entry
The brief supporting the petition for rehearing was filed in Barnes v. State, the decision Orin blogged about last month. The brief was also signed by 31 of the 100 Indiana House of Representatives members, but the overwhelming support in the Senate struck me as especially striking. The brief argues that the Indiana self-defense statute, […]
Self-Defense as a Defense Against a Charge of Being a Felon in Possession of a Gun
Friday, the Michigan Supreme Court handed down an interesting case — People v. Dupree on this. The case is not novel, and my sense is that the defense is generally recognized: Just as what would otherwise be the crime of murder, attempted murder, battery, and the like might be justified if done in defense against […]
Deadly Force in Self-Defense Constitutionally Protected, Nondeadly Force Unprotected?
From People v. Srnec (Mich. Ct. App. Jan. 26, 2010) (italics added): Defendant next argues that the trial court erred in denying his motion for a new trial and to dismiss because the Second Amendment safeguarding the right to bear arms affords every citizen a right of self-defense against unlawful arrest or seizure. Defendant claims […]
Kansas Now Allows Threat of Deadly Force in Self-Defense, and Not Just Use of Such Force
You wouldn’t think that it would take a statute to do this. After all, if it’s OK to kill someone to defend against a threat of death or serious injury, the lesser harm of threatening to kill someone should be fine, too. But last year the Kansas Supreme Court held that existing Kansas law only […]